


Growing Daffodils

by ObtuseOctopus



Series: Living in Hue [8]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Family Bonding, Family Fluff, Gem Egg Hell, Gemlings, Healthy Relationships, Multi, Parenthood, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-18
Updated: 2020-02-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:28:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22784083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObtuseOctopus/pseuds/ObtuseOctopus
Summary: •COMPLETE•The gemlings have opened their eyes lately, and they prove to be quite some trouble;Emily won’t stop eating everything.Pea won’t stop trying to constantly run off.Lapis is a hardworking mother and Bismuth and Peridot are her two idiots. Well, sometimes.
Relationships: Bismuth/Lapis Lazuli (Steven Universe), Bismuth/Lapis Lazuli/Peridot (Steven Universe), Lapis Lazuli/Peridot (Steven Universe)
Series: Living in Hue [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1615498
Comments: 1
Kudos: 25





	1. Emily

“HEY! No, put that down! Put it down!” Peridot frantically grabbed the cassette out of the little gemling’s mouth, frowning at the saliva plastered at the end of it. “Eeewww, why do you HAVE to chew on it like this?”

“ _Bah_!” The tiny chrysocolla raised her hands into the air, kicking her feet. 

“Yeah, that is what the sheep say,” Peridot said.

“ _BAH!”_ The gemling eyed the object in Peridot’s hands.

Peridot glanced at the cassette. “Oh no, you are NOT having this back.”

The gemling began to throw a fit. “ _BAH!”_

“Don’t yell at me like that! I will personally put you in timeout, Emily!” Peridot huffed. “Ugh, I never saw the appeal to offspring. You know, I think Bismuth has a point of being scared of babies. You… slobber and consume food products like there is no tomorrow, you eat everything even if it isn’t edible, you can fall from high places and seriously injure yourself… Oh thank stars Bismuth has Pea for today. I would’ve gone insane watching two of you.”

“ _BAH_!”

“Yeah, bah. Bah… bah,” Peridot stuck out her tongue. “Do you understand English yet? Don’t worry, I’ll teach you everything you need to know. As your sire, and with you as the product of Lapis Lazuli, you’re my first priority. … Are you chewing on something AGAIN? OH MY STARS.” Peridot snatched the paintbrush away from the gemling.

Emily puffed out her cheeks.

“Don’t you dare,” Peridot said, pointing at the small Gem.

And with that, Emily opened her mouth and let out the loudest bawl.

“WHY?!” Peridot begged, falling to her knees. “Emily! Why?! Why must you demand to chew on everything even if it serves no nutritional value?!”

“BAAAAAAH!”

“Stars, save me,” Peridot prayed to nothing in particular. “This is what parenthood is, isn't it?” Then she sighed, and did the only thing she could do. “LAAAAPISSSS!” She called loudly, competing with her own daughter for who was the loudest.

It took a few moments, but eventually and luckily Lapis came flying into the small home. Her wings disappeared as soon as she landed, and she ran over to Emily. Peridot recognized it to be maternal instinct as Lapis also quickly cradled her daughter and lightly nuzzled her nose against the gemling’s.

“She is absolutely mad,” Peridot began. “Chewing on my cassette tapes, eating my cords, crunching on your paint brushes-!”

“Shh. She’s just a baby,” Lapis hushed, the gemling quieting down as she rocked her in her arms. “She doesn’t know any better…” 

“Oh, she’s being just a drama queen,” Peridot brushed off. “I taught her that she should say ‘clod’ if she’s upset at something, and she still has never used it!”

“You’re teaching her cuss words?”

“It’s not a cuss word, Lapis. I could teach her one however if you-“

“No. No cuss words.” Lapis held Emily close to her chest. The aqua-colored gemling wiggled close to her mother, letting out a chirp akin to that of a baby alligator.

“Why does she make those noises?” Peridot asked. “Is it a warning?”

“No,” Lapis laughed. “She’s just calling to me. You’ve heard her before. It’s the same thing.”

“Calling to you?” Peridot gave the gemling the oddest look. “How? What is she saying? Oh, so you can speak that, but not English, Emily?”

“It’s just noises. She’s still young, she depends on me,” Lapis explained. “She only opened her eyes a few days ago.”

“How do you know so much about this?” Peridot questioned.

“I read a _lot_ of magazines and manga,” Lapis admitted. “Mostly about baby animals. I had a feeling that… since they aren’t like humans, they’d be more like…”

“You thought our babies would be like animals?”

“No!” Lapis’ face turned dark. “No, Peridot. I just had a feeling. At least I was right, huh?”

“I suppose…” Peridot murmured. “Where’s Bismuth and Pea?”

“At the Temple. Bismuth said that Pearl had some spare blankets Steven no longer uses that she could give for the gemlings. They went to pick them up.”

“Will it go to the nest?”

“Obviously…” Lapis blushed. “I... don’t call it a nest.”

“What is it then?”

“You’re gonna laugh.”

“Am not!”

“Promise?”

Peridot held up a pinkie. “I promise.”

“... I call it a Barniculous.”

“Bar… nick… ulous...” Peridot enunciated. “Why-“

“Don’t ask. You know what, never mind. I’m not calling it that anymore.”

“It’s fine-! It was… cute-!”

“No way. Now that you said it, I found out how dumb it sounds,” Lapis said. She noticed Emily wiggling against her again, and she adjusted her hold on her daughter some. “I think she’s hungry. I’m gonna go back to my own place for a bit, okay?”

“Aww, she was just warming up!” Peridot whined. 

“I’ll bring her back later before their bedtime,” Lapis shrugged. “But for now, she’s hungry. I’ll even bring Pea if you want me to.”

“Hm… alright. Only as long as I’m not the only one watching them. I can’t handle having two gemlings chew up everything and ruin my things,” Peridot crossed her arms.

“Then maybe you should keep a better eye on them.”

“I do! And yet they ruin my things!”

“Poor Emily… is your Parentdot yelling at you?” Lapis cooed to her daughter. 

“That is the worst name ever.”

“You had nothing on Barniculous, but Parentdot makes you upset?” Lapis snickered.

“At least make it punny!”

“It _is_ punny.” Lapis carefully brushed through Emily’s hair with her fingers. “I gotta go now. Or else she’s gonna get fussy.” She walked forward, stopping for a brief moment when she was next to Peridot. The blue Gem leaned over a little, pressing her lips to Peridot’s head before she continued walking away.

Peridot watched, her cheeks a forest green from the kiss. It was a rare thing coming from Lapis, as physical affection was still new to her. But… she liked it nonetheless. “Bye, Emily!” She hollered after the two, already unable to sit still and wait for when she could see her daughter again.


	2. Pea

“You LOST her?!” Lapis didn’t waste any time as she disappeared into the sky in a blur of blue, water wings slicing through the air. Once the ocean Gem had left to start searching for the missing gemling, Bismuth gave an awkward and very bashful look over at Peridot.

“How did you lose an ENTIRE GEMLING?” Peridot scolded the bigger Gem, holding Emily even closer to her despite the squeaks of protest that erupted from the baby. “She was just here, wasn’t she?!”

“Hey- in my defense, the baby was also in a house and couldn't reach the door, so she couldn’t have gotten out of the Temple if we did leave her there on accident. I was sure that she was in the blankets….”

“Are you sure?”

“Pretty positive,” Bismuth shrugged. “Honestly, I’m scared out of my mind too. I look like I’m handling this fine, but internally? I am SCREAMING, Tinydot. SCREAMING.”

“If there was no way that she could’ve gotten out of the Temple… oh. Stars, she could still be in there- COME ON!” Peridot urged, sprinting off back towards the Temple. Luckily they had only gotten halfway back home before discovering the case of the missing child, as Lapis had waited until near dusk to pick up Pea and check on Bismuth. Peridot had tagged along upon self invitation. Now it was an absolute mess.

“Pea! Pea, honey?! Where are ya?!” Bismuth called, still holding the blankets as she marched back to the Temple after Peridot. “No hide and seek games!”

“Lapis is going to destroy this entire planet unless that gemling is recovered safe and sound...” Peridot muttered under her breath. “PEA!”

“If that nugget managed to hurt herself, I am going to throw myself into a pool of lava and never come out. This is going to be the last day that anybody sees of me!” Bismuth said, holding the blankets over her head.

“It’d be a fate better than death by a lazuli,” Peridot added. “PEA! COME HERE, PEA! Clap your hands- that summons dogs and cats so it should summon gemlings too.”

“What-? Er… okay?” Bismuth gave a dumbfounded glare before she balanced the blankets on her head, proceeding to clap a few times while saying Pea’s name.

They were just outside the Temple now, and Peridot went ahead to search by the steps as well as the rocks. Just to be safe. “PEEEAAAAA?” She turned over a small rock as Emily wiggled in her grasp, not onboard with all the noise and movement.

“You think she’d be under a rock that size?” Bismuth huffed.

“I AM TRYING MY BEST,” Peridot said. 

“You sure are,” Bismuth encouraged with nonchalance. She headed for the stairs, but abruptly paused. “Hang on- hear that?”

“No-“

“Shh. Listen.” 

Peridot was reluctantly quieted down by the bigger Gem, who has clamped a hand over her mouth.

A tiny squeak sounded from nearby, just among some rocks out towards the beach. And not only that, but a few squawks of seagulls rang in the air.

“Yup. That’s her. Let’s go,” Bismuth let the blankets fall off her head as she hurried on over to where the noise was, a squabble of gulls causing a ruckus among the rocks. They were pecking at something, fighting over something.

“Oh no-“ Peridot caught on to what was occurring. “NO! SHOO! SHOO YOU HEATHENS! FEATHERED CLODS!” She refused to let any gulls get at Emily or Pea as she charged the flock, forcing the birds to scatter. “SHOO! SHOOSHOOSHOO!”

“Holy mackerel and goddesses almighty, the most fiercest thing I’ve ever seen.” Bismuth rushed in, scrabbling to grab Pea from the rocks. “GET!” She smacked a seagull when it came to close and the bird flew off. “She must’ve fallen out of the blankets on my way out. I didn’t even notice…-“

“Get Pea and abort mission! ABORT MISSION!” Peridot cried, the seagulls flocking around her. 

Bismuth didn’t need to be told twice. She fled the scene, picking the blankets back up from the sand and making sure that Pea was secure. “Whoa, child. You almost became a seagull dinner!”

“BECAUSE YOU LOST HER!” Peridot spat, retreating with Bismuth back to Little Homeworld. The seagulls were lost in the distance.

“I didn’t lose her! I was just not being careful!” Bismuth said. “This is why you have to be careful and double check yourself. I could’ve lost a baby today, Tiny. I didn’t know she slipped out of the blankets or somehow got out otherwise. Who knows, maybe even slipped away like the sneak she is.” She stopped. “I could’ve…-“ 

Peridot slowed down. She eyed Bismuth suspiciously. 

“Oh… man, I…-“ Bismuth sighed, the seriousness of the situation getting to her now that the rush of adrenaline had died. “I could’ve lost a baby.” She gave a sorrowful glance down at Pea. “I could’ve…-“

Peridot held Emily closer. She understood what was going on. And despite Emily once again squirming trying to get away from her, Peridot held onto her tight. She refused to let go. “Hey, Bismuth?” 

“Not now, Peridot.” Bismuth was definitely not in the mood if she wasn’t even using nicknames anymore. “Gimme a moment.”

Peridot shut her mouth. She stood quietly, even if awkwardly. Emily gave a chirp of protest, still wiggling about madly. Pea on the other hand had a more tame attitude, if not from trauma.

A good few moments had passed. Peridot decided to speak up at last. “I know that you’re probably beating yourself up over this, but you’re a great sire,” she began. “Even if… Pea was almost eaten alive, she wasn’t after all so it’s alright.”

“But she could’ve been,” Bismuth sighed. “She wouldn’t have been in that situation if it wasn’t for me- I should’ve been more careful.” 

“It’s in the past now. Pea is alright,” Peridot assured, adjusting her grip on Emily who had tried to duck out of her grasp.

“Her mother is going to kill me.”

“Most likely not. You saved her.”

“Ugh! Peridot, don’t you get it? Pea was in that seagull squabble because of ME!” Bismuth disputed. “I put her in danger. I failed her as a sire.”

“No you didn’t. And she’s fine, we saved her, and we learned something today,” Peridot said.

“I still feel like a pile of rocks…”

“You know, you and Lapis have a lot in common.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Bismuth got defensive.

“I- uh… I’m just saying that… both of you beat yourself up really easily over things,” Peridot explained, backing up a bit. “It’s kind of… upsetting. I mean, I know why and I can understand why- it’s just… it’s sad. Everything’s fine now.”

“I know that.”

“So why do you still feel that way?”

“Guilt,” Bismuth admitted. “It’s my fault.” She looked at Pea again, then offered her over to Peridot. “She deserves someone better, you know.”

Peridot was remorseful. “She already does have someone better! That someone is  _ you _ !”

“Thanks for the pick-me-up, but me and you both know well that ain’t the truth.”

Peridot groaned. She refused to take Pea. “If it is your fault for leaving her and not double checking to make sure that she is with you, then it is equally my fault for blaming you for losing her! If it is your fault for being a sire, then so it is mine! I didn’t ask for this- I didn’t even know that any of this was possible. But here I am now and… I’m taking this as it goes. I have no prior experience and little knowledge about this sort of thing. I’m a certified Kindergartener and I still don’t know what it means when Emily puts her hands up at me! All I’m saying is that… we both make mistakes. We both don’t really know what we’re doing. I’m pretty sure you never-“

“No, I haven’t,” Bismuth confirmed. “I’ve ain’t ever done this before.”

“See? We’re both just… winging it,” Peridot finished. “We’re gonna make mistakes sometimes. That’s okay. I shouldn’t have goaded you into thinking that all of the blame is yours. Lapis taught me that I should be more observant about how my words can affect others but that I also need to speak up when necessary. It’s a confusing balance.”

“You sound like Pearl.”

“LAPIS SAYS THE EXACT SAME THING! WHY DOES EVERYBODY SAY-“

“Whoa, volume. Volume, watch your volume.” Bismuth pointed to Emily, who wasn’t having a good time at all with her parent being so loud. “She doesn’t look too happy.”

“Oh. Sorry.” Peridot apologized to her daughter, but the gemling still held a sour expression. Pea on the other hand calmly watched as she remained with Bismuth. “But still. My stance still stands.”

“Even if that mistake involves putting a baby in danger?”

“Well, sure,” Peridot shrugged. “Probably not the most ideal situation, but still a lesson we learned from that mistake. That doesn’t automatically make you a bad parent unless you intended for her to be in that position.” She held Emily up over her head, as if she were holding the gemling up to show the gods. Emily was  _ not  _ at all happy with the antics of her sire. “Now! I say we head back home before Lapis tears up this planet and show her that both of the children are safe. Who knows where she would be by now?” She laughed. “Come on, lets g-YAAAAOOOW!” She brought Emily back down, holding onto her even though the small Gem had a strong bite on her sire’s hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> // Lapis probably tore up all of Little Homeworld looking for her kids. Who knows ¯\\_(ヅ)_/¯


End file.
